Box Score
<%--Womens Hockey vs. Queens 2014 Gallery--%>
Guelph 3, Queen's 2

Guelph, Ont. (February 1^st) -The Guelph Gryphon women's hockey team defeated the Queen's Golden Gaels with a final score of 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Gryphon Centre. Guelph's tenth straight win moves them to 19-3-0 and drops the Gaels to 15-3-4.

"It was a really good team effort win today," said Gryphon head coach Rachel Flanagan. "We feel that our first year players have really stepped up since Christmas, and are playing their best hockey. There was a lot of excitement around it being a special day for our seniors, and they all responded really well."
 
Before the puck dropped against Queen's, the Gryphons took the time to honour their graduating seniors. Captain Emily Corbett and Assistant Captains Kimberley Wong and Kandace Charbonneau are among the Gryphons graduating, along with Amanda Parkins, Brittney Crawford, Michelle Sabourin, Brooke Siddall and Hillary Walsh.
 
The Gryphons also mentioned the graduating Queen's players, which included Guelph native Morgan McHaffie, Mel Dodd-Moher (Stittsville, Ont.) and Marlee Fisher (Kingston, Ont.).
 
The game started as a back and forth defensive battle between the two top three OUA ranked teams. The Gryphon defense had the Gaels boxed out and were doing an excellent job of keeping Queen's to the outside of the rink, pushing them back into the neutral zone. However, the Gryphons were finding it hard to find traction offensively with the Gaels keeping most of Guelph's possessions short.
 
Queen's got the first power play of the game after Gryphon player Averi Nooren was called for tripping at 7:15. Queen's was having a hard time setting up in their offensive zone, and were struggling to get the puck out to the points without the Gryphons clearing the puck. The Gaels came close to a goal towards the end of their power play, with the puck hanging in the crease. The Gryphon defense was able to scoop the puck up out of the crease and clear it before the Gaels were able to capitalize on the free puck.
 
The intensity picked up with the Gaels briefly taking over possession of the puck, playing more offensively than the Gryphons. A huge hit by Gina Murray had Queen's on another power play after getting called for body checking at 11:32. Queen's evened up shots on goal in their power play, shooting on Gryphon goalie Stephanie Nehring four times in the two minutes. Queen's had a hard shot off the pads of Nehring and immediately used the rebound as an opportunity to shoot again, but Nehring was able to swipe it out of the air. The Gryphons ended the first period out shooting the Gaels 12-5, but the game remained scoreless despite an onslaught of shots from the Gryphon offense.
 
The Gryphons started the second period strong, controlling possession for the first minutes of the second period. Kimberley Wong opened up scoring in the first minute of the period with a quick shot from the point. Queen's picked up the intensity, taking over possession of the puck. Before the end of the period, the Gaels would close up the gap in the shots on goal total, ending the period with a total of 10-9 in favour of the Gryphons.
 
An across the crease pass from Taryn Pilon (Peterborough, Ont.) to Micaela Smith (Cobourg, Ont.) put Queen's on the board first after Smith was able to tip the puck into the net just past Nehring's pads to make it 1-0 for the Gaels at 10:06, with Morgan McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) also on the assist.
 
Guelph would get a power play late in the second period after a check to the head call on Gael's player Shawna Griffin (Redwood Meadows, AB.). A beautiful goal from Kelly Gribbons as she was skating down the ice had the Gaels and the Gryphons tied up at the ones to end the second period, with Christine Grant and Amanda Parkins on the assists.
 
Gryphons would come out aggressively in the third period, dominating puck possession once again. Queen's had few chances to make it down to Gryphon territory, while Guelph was putting ample pressure on Gael goalie Mel Dodd-Moher. The Gryphons would get a power play at 5:45 in the third period after a hooking call on Queen's player Michele Knecht (North York, Ont.). The Gryphons set up in front of the net quickly and were able to use their position to break apart the Queen's defense. A quick shot from the top of the circle from Leigh Shilton would break the tie and make it 2-1 for the Gryphons at 6:47 on the power play, with Kaitlyn Mora on the assist. The Gryphons would score again shortly after with Marcie Landman chipping the puck up and over the shoulder of the Gael's goalie to make it 3-1 at 8:38, with Cara Sayles and Gina Murray on the assists.
 
The Gaels were determined to score again however and constant pressure on Nehring had Queen's in a position to take a shot in behind the Gryphon goalie. It would be Clare McKellar to score for the Gaels to make it 3-2 against the Gryphons at 15:12, with Danielle Girard (Sarnia, Ont.) and Micaela Smith on the assists.
 
Queen's pulled their goalie in an attempt to even things up against the Gryphons but were unable to score, finishing the game with a final score of 3-2 for the Gryphons.
 
The Gryphons out shot the Golden Gael's with a total of 32-21.
 
The Guelph Gryphon women's hockey team hits the ice again on Saturday, February 8^th against the York Lions in Toronto with the puck set to drop at 7:00 p.m.